The planned Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District trains will not only be quiet (though diesel-powered), but so will the crossings if cities and counties cooperate.
The new transit district "is spending $12 million on its train crossings to qualify them as quiet zones, where approaching trains may be exempted from blowing their horns", writes The Press Democrat's Bob Norberg. However, the final word will be had by the individual cities and either Marin or Sonoma Counties as they must "apply for to state and federal regulators for quiet zone designation."
SMART is a 70-mile rail and trail project serving 14 stations from Cloverdale in Sonoma County to the San Francisco-bound ferry terminal in Larkspur, Marin County with service scheduled to begin in late 2015 or early 2016. The track will be shared with Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co. freight trains.
Why designate a train crossing as a 'quiet zone'?
"In usual railroad operations, commute and freight train operators are required to sound the horn 15 to 20 seconds before reaching a crossing, with a pattern of two long blasts, a short blast and a final long blast.
The required decibel level is 96 to 110, loud enough to be heard but below ear-shattering."
The $12 million is going toward providing "special crossing gates and traffic islands that are intended to keep motorists from being able to drive onto the tracks. Only the cities and counties, however, have the authority to apply to the state Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Railroad Administration for quiet zone status."
The FRA Train Horn Rule Fact Sheet provides additional information on the requirements for locomotive engineers to blow the horns and the establishment of a "New Quiet Zone".
Further south in the Bay Area, the 50-mile San Jose to San Francisco Caltrain line is no stranger to residents complaining about train noise, as Palo Alto On-line reported on July 29, 2009 and the Mountain View Voice editorialized the following month.
Thanks to MTC-ABAG Library
FULL STORY: SMART looks to put train crossings on mute
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.